Ahornweg Kleine Schleife

The Ahornweg is a 104-kilometre loop through the south of the Osnabrücker Land, shaped like a figure of eight around Bad Iburg. It is made of two loops; this trip is the southern one, the Kleine Schleife, 39 kilometres in two days.

The first day climbs from the spa park of Bad Iburg into the woods, past the treetop walk and along the crest of the Teutoburger Wald to Hagen. The second is the long day: over the Dörenberg, the highest summit here at 331 metres, and through the woods back to Bad Iburg.

The landscape is beech forest on sandstone ridges, with open fields and meadows at the edges. The route runs through the UNESCO TERRA.vita Geopark.

Practical. The route is waymarked with a maple leaf. Bad Iburg has no station; a bus runs from Osnabrück Hauptbahnhof to the Charlottensee stop, and the Haller Willem stops at Oesede and Wellendorf a few kilometres away. The stages end in Hagen am Teutoburger Wald, where there is a hotel. May, June and September are the best months; in spring the beeches are in leaf and the wild garlic flowers.